Secrets beneath the lies
by Wings of a Falcon
Summary: Max moves to Virginia with her sister Angel and Jeb. When Max starts highschool things are everyday normal. Then Fang comes along and her whole view on the world changes. Not everything is as it seems. FAX. WINGS
1. Chapter 1

"Max!" a young voice trilled. Not exactly recognizing my surroundings, I got up.

Oh.. Right. I was in Virginia. Nearly all the way across the country from where I formally lived. I used to live in Arizona. But my dad, who I call Jeb, had picked my sister Angel and I up and moved all the way here. Great.

I hadn't wanted to move. I would much rather stay there with all my friends. But no, I didn't get any say. To Virginia it was.

And it wasn't much of a great reason either. Jeb was a single father, and somehow met someone online who he liked enough to move across the entire country. I didn't know much about this woman, except for the fact that she'd never replace Mom.

Mom had left Angel and I alone with Jeb when Angel was only 7 years old, and when I was 14. Now Angel was 9, and I was 16. Mom died in a swimming accident. Some idiot ran her over at the beach with a zodiac. I swear, when I find the guy who did that, I would happily beat him into a pulp. Ever since that day, I had kept my eyes open for a boy who should now be around my age or older, with black hair.

How a 14 year old got ahold of a zodiac, I would never know. But he would pay. He hadnt even stopped to help. He had just kept zooming further and further, not looking back.

* * *

Today was my first day at my new highschool. I walked into the front office, and immediately a middle aged lady looked up at me and smiled.

"Hi, you must be Maxine Ride. Here is your schedule and locker number. Classes start in 10 minutes."

"It's Maximum. Maximum Ride, though I usually go by Max," I smiled back, through gritted teeth. Why did everyone have to assume that "Max" was short for Maxine? People really pissed me off sometimes.

I waved good bye and headed out to class. It wouldn't be a very good idea to be late to class on your first day.

Even though I had 10 minutes, I started rushing and weaving through the giant crowds that clogged the hallways. I have mastered this skill long ago, but all of a sudden I slammed into a hard chest. I looked up and found a pair of pale blue eyes that sat under a mop of spiky strawberry-blonde hair. He smiled.

"Oops, sorry about that! Why are you rushing anyways, you still got 8 minutes. Hey... You're new arent you?" the boy grinned. He stuck out his hand. "Hi, I'm Iggy."  
I took Iggy's hand and shook it.  
"I'm Max," I smiled.

"What class do you have? I can show you the way if you'd like."

"Um.. I have Chemistry 2 with Mr. Greensboro," I told him, looking down at my sheet.

"Great! I have him too. Follow me."

Iggy stuck his hand out and started tracing the walls as he walked. I noticed that his eyes seemed to focus on absolutely nothing.

"Oh my god, you're bli-" I blurted out.

"Yeah, I am," Iggy chuckled.

"How on earth do you do that?" I asked in astonishment. Iggy seemed to perfectly weave around people, not crashing into anything.

"When you lose a sense, your other senses heighten," he said, grinning. Then, in a mock-spooky voice, he said, "that also means I can read your mind,"

"Shut up!" I said, shoving him in the chest and laughing.

"Ok ok, you got me. I can't read minds... But I can do other amazing things," Iggy told me darkly, winking. I glared and gave him the bird. Then I remembered he was blind.

"Well, here we are. Classroom 202, Mr. Greensboro," Iggy said.

I thanked him and walked up to the desk that sat at the front of the room.

"Hello, you must be the new student, Maxine Ride! Welcome!" a balding 50 year old man said. He wore round classes, and his eyes seemed warm and kind. I likes him already, besides the fact that he immediately assumed my name was Maxine.

"It's just Max, sir." I told him. He just nodded.

"You will be sitting over in the back next to Nick. He will be your partner this year, considering he doesn't have one yet," told me, pointing to a desk near the back wall. I looked at the boy sitting there. He was super tall, had olive-colored skin, and deep, black eyes. And he was also surrounded by a cluster of girls. Great. I'd get the one boy who flirted with every single living female as my lab partner. Reluctantly, I walked over there.

I didn't even greet myself, I didn't like him already. I just sat down and plopped my books on the table. I glanced over at him and he sent me a grin that looked like it was supposed to make me fall in love. It didn't. It just made me want to punch him. I glared at him.

"Hey there," Nick said leaning over to me, breathing in my ear. "You must be the new girl, am I correct? Maxine Ride?"

I shoved him away. "Yes Nick, I AM the new girl! How smart of you to notice. And it's just Max."

Nicky's face suddenly got serious. "Don't ever call me Nick. I go by Fang."

"Well aren't you the emo little boy?" I said, staring down at his entirely black attire, excluding his jeans.

Suddenly a cocky look passed over *Fang's* face. "Do you like little emo boys?" He asked, leaning over once again.

"Just stop that! I'm not interested in flirty, overly-cocky, way-too-large-eggoed, emo, dumb-witted boys," I snapped at him, wishing he'd leave me alone. I couldn't believe that the rest of my year would be spent with him.

"Well then. I don't like smart-assed, tomboy, smart-mouth girls. You know, girls usually dress with a little more style," Fang told me, as if he were suddenly deciding he wasn't interested in me anymore.

"That suits me just fine, Fangy boy," I grinned, slapping him on the back. All of a sudden, Fang backed away like I had a disease. Why would he be so bothered with such a action? All I did was touch his back..

Huh.

* * *

After a long day at school, I exhaustingly returned home. The first thing I did was head to the kitchen and grab a handful of chocolate chip cookies. Surprisingly Valencia (who was Jebs girlfriend and actually was pretty nice) made fantastic homemade cookies. I happily munched on them as I headed up the stairs.

When I made it to my room, I plopped all my stuff down on the floor and collapsed onto the bed. One by one, I gulped the remainder of those cookies down. Even though I was not much of a thinker, I thought about my day. I made a friend and an enemy. Iggy was super nice, and naturally easy-going. Fang was cocky and arrogant, and really ticked me off. Win some lose some.

I got up and started on my homework. There wasn't a lot, considering I was new and the school year had already started. The teachers decided to cut my some slack. It all took me only an hour, and after that I was free to do whatever I liked.

Immediately, my mind sprang to the tree in my backyard. It was a huge oak, it's branches thick and strong. It would be an easy feat to climb, and I would get an entire view of the neighborhood from the top. I ran downstairs and outside.

I first started on a low hanging tree limb. I pulled myself up and flung my body over. I then climbed the rest like a ladder, it was super easy. Even though hard challenges are fun, easy challenges make you feel good about yourself, the easy way. Pretty soon I had reached the top. With one final pull I sat comfortably on a huge branch. I leaned against the trunk and looked out.

It was a pretty view, I will tell you that. The houses were set pretty far apart, and trees littered the ground. Virginia was very green.

It was also very windy, as I soon learned. One moment I was sitting in the tree and the next a huge gush of wind had knocked my light body off the branch I was formally sitting on. I didn't scream, but I desperately clawed at the air as I fell. All of a sudden, the breath was knocked out of me as I hit the first branch on the way down. Oof! Another branch. After a couple more agonizing branches I was finally on the hard ground. I just closed my eyes and groaned.

When I opened my eyes back up, I found myself to be staring into deep black ones. Fang. Great.

"Where did you come from?" I muttered.

"I live next door. Are you ok? We should take you to the hospital. Come on." Fang quickly said, trying to pick me up. I slapped his hands away.

"Leave me alone, I'm fine." Slowly, I got up. I ached all over, but I didn't feel any broken bones. "See? Fine."

"But how could you? How did you? That was at least 35 feet! You must have a broken bone somewhere," Fang muttered, feeling me all over for broken bones.

"Hey! Hands off! Just because I fell out of a tree doesn't mean that you have the right to get any of this," I said sarcastically, grinning. My comment must have made him forget about my well-being, because he just snapped back.

"You wish Ride, you wish."

I just rolled my eyes and walked back inside. Nothing good had come out of this. I had discovered that my next door neighbor was *Fang*. Virginia was bringing me nothing but bad luck.


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh wow, I completely forgot to include a AN in the first chapter. I really should be sleeping more. xD**

**Im so happy I got such good responses on this! Thanks! Motivates me to write more. ;D**

**And to those who asked if Max had wings... Well you will just have to wait and see. Story is still young my friend!**

**Sorry for such a short chapter. This one is about half as long as the other. I just really wanted to get this AN up. I promise the rest will be longer and way more substantial than this. **

* * *

Today was a Saturday. Ah, the joys of starting school on a Friday. Currently I'm laying snug under the covers in my bed, half awake and half asleep. I felt like I never wanted to get out.

But of course, I had to. That's life.

Mumbling to myself, I ripped off the heated bed covers and sat straight. I could feel that my brown-blonde hair was like a bird's nest at the moment. Reluctantly, I headed to the shower.

Since I had the time today, I decided I would go out for my morning run. I was just one of those people who needed to exercise daily.

After the shower I slipped on my tight black leggings, a snug tee-shirt, grabbed my iPod, and off I went. I hadn't run in this neighborhood yet, so I did a little exploring of all the roads and paths.

It was a nice area actually. Lots of green, and the air was fresh. I cranked up the volume on my iPod and sped up my pace. But for some weird reason, my back ached.

* * *

**Fang POV**

I looked outside my bedroom window. The entire room was painted a deep navy blue color, and the window was like a shining star in the middle of it all.

As I stared out, I noticed a girl my age jogging outside. Her legs were long and slim, and the shirt she was wearing showed off all of the right curves. Then I noticed something else.

It was Max. The hot girl running by was Max.

No! This was the snappy, bitchy, PMSing girl who I hated. And that's the end of the story.

As an idea popped up in my brain, I grinned.

* * *

**Max POV**

As I continued running, I got the feeling that I was being followed. I glanced behind me, and no one was there. I kept on my steady pace.

I got the spooky feeling again. This time I stopped, turned around, and stood still with my hands on my hips, looking everywhere for the possible danger. No one. Reluctantly I turned around and kept running.

It was a good 5 minutes before I was sure I felt a actual presence behind me. I snapped around and found myself face to face with the devil.

Fang.

"Fang! Quit that!" I yelled. A smirk graced his face as he put his hands up in "defense".

"Quit what? Breathing?"

"Argh! I just woke up and you've ruined my weekend already. Thanks a lot Fang, I appreciate it," I said, trying to make my face look sincere.

"No problem Maxie dearest, it's what I do,"

"How'd you do that anyway? Show up without me hearing?" I asked curiously. Fang looked a little anxious now.

"Well, you must be deaf, because I assure you I did not try to be quiet," Fang replied, obviously trying to cover up something. I looked at him suspiciously.

"Really? I assure *you* that my hearing is above average, and I would have heard you. So tell me Fang, how?"

"I sneaked up on you, tip toeing," Fang said in a 3 year old voice. I shook my head.

"I don't believe you, but whatever."

And with that, I walked back home.

* * *

It was around lunch time now. Mom (yes, I have started calling her Mom) had made me a grilled cheese sandwich along with some chocolate chip cookies. Yum.

As I ate on, Mom wiped her hands on a towel and came up to me.

"So Max, have you met our neighbors yet? The house next door has a boy around your age you know."

I mentally groaned at the thought of Fang.

"Yeah, I have met the boy. We share a couple of classes. I don't like him very much," I told her as nicely as I possibly could. I swear I was about to gag. Never mention that boy while I'm eating, at least while you're wearing nice clothes.

"Aww, how come sweetie? Tonight we will be formally meeting them, get to know him a little better," Mom said.

My eyes nearly popped out at this new news. Not only was my weekend ruined, my LIFE was ruined.

"Do I have to go?" I whined.

"Sorry Max, but it'd be rude not to."

Now not in my best mood, I put the dishes back into the dishwasher and headed back upstairs. When I got to my room, I flopped onto the bed and looked around.

My room was rather large. The walls were painted a light and neutral blue. I liked it a lot. In one corner was my desk and my bookshelf, near the window. In two other corners was a moon chair and a bean bag. Those were my two favorite reading places. Opposite of my bed was a small balcony that faced the balcony of Fang's house. Next to my bed was a large parrot cage, containing a colorful little Jenday conure who I called Drin. He was my best little bud. He was always there for me when I wasn't feeling at my best.

I decided to take Drin out. He was only two years old, but would live to be 40. As soon as I took him out of the cage he launched himself off my finger and flew a couple laps around the room. Oh how I wish I could fly like that. Even though he was contained inside a room, I could only imagine the freedom Drin must be feeling. When he was finished he landed back on my finger and begged to be petted. I started tickling those fluffy feathers on his head and he closes his eyes in content. He was really quite a cutie. Cheered me right up.

As I put Drin back inside his cage, my back was overwhelmed with this itching feeling. I really should get this checked out. It was becoming quite annoying. I tried my best not to itch, but no matter what I did, it just kept getting worse.

* * *

**Fang POV**

I reveled in the marvelous joy of soaring over the clouds. I extended my raven black wings to their fullest and let them carry me effortlessly. No one but Iggy knew about my secret.

Truth is, I belonged to a super rare and ancient race of avian-humans. Not many were left on this poor planet. The numbers kept dwindling downwards. I've never met another one besides Iggy himself. And I think I never will.


	3. Chapter 3

**THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS AND FAVORITES AND FOLLOWS AND WHAT NOT. **  
**I really appreciate it. :D Heres the next chapter!**

* * *

Yup, weekend was finally over. I was kinda glad and sad. Now on a Monday, there was a school field trip to the Appalachian mountains. I'd get to semi-skip school, and see something new. But, it was still considered school nonetheless.

As I boarded the bus, I noticed that Iggy was in front of me. As he found a seat towards the back, he grabbed my hand and pulled me down into the seat with him.

"Seriously Igs! How do you do that? Please at least TRY and act like you're blind, you're seriously freaking me out. Not cool bro."

Iggy just laughed.

"I'm psychic! That's how! Obviously..." Iggy said, in all of his sarcastic seriousness.

Just as we were both laughing, a tall mocha-skinned girl sat down next to Iggy and I.

"Hi Iggy! OMG who is this is this the girl you were telling me about?! If so let me introduce myself. HI! Im Nudge what's your name? Everyone always says I talk a lot but I don-"

"Nudge! Shut up, please!" Iggy said, like it happened every day. It probably did. "Nudge meet Max, Max meet Nudge. Nudge is a close friend of mine."

I loved this girl already. She was so bubbly and cheerful!

"Hey Nudge. Nice to meet ya," I greeted, sticking my hand out. She shook it vigorously. I bounced up and down in my seat until she stopped.

"So whaddya think about this trip? You think we are going to see some birds? I love birds. Aren't birds awesome? The way they fly..." Nudge babbled on.

"I think we will. Probably some hawks or condors.. Awesome birds. Can't wait!" I told them. Iggy and Nudge looked at each other.

"What?" I asked them.

"Oh, it's nothing," Iggy replied.

I ignored the sudden weirdness and just looked out the window, counting the passing cars. After about 2 hours, we arrived at the site where we would begin our long hike. But we didn't get off the bus just yet. Our homeroom teacher stood up at the front, holding a clipboard in her hand.

"Alright folks, we have arrived. However, we will be hiking in groups of two or three. Considering you guys can't make simple choices like this without causing ruckus, I have picked out your groups for you," the teacher babbled on, looking insanely bored.  
"Ella and Sam. Nudge and Iggy. Lissa and Bridget. Cameron and Gazzy. Kara and Ashley. Bob and Drake. Kingsley and Jake. Kate and Kathryn. Gianna and Charlotte. And last of all, Maxine and Fang."

Ok, two things wrong with "Maxine and Fang". One, my name is NOT and never will be Maxine! Max-i-mum. Second of all, I'm paired with Fang! Of all people, FANG.

I think I'm cursed. I have to be cursed. Why do I keep getting paired with Fang? Why?! What was the horribly thing I did to deserve this? I must have killed about 2000 people to deserve this..

Out of anger, I stood up straight in my seat.

"Excuse me miss. I can not be paired with *Fang*. I can't! Please can I switch with someone? Anyone!" I desperately told the teacher. Several girls all started yelling and volunteering to switch. They must be crazy.

"Sorry Maxine, I made these arrangements before hand. It's not the end of the world, just sit down," the teacher told me.

"Yeah, sorry Ride. Looks like you'll be stuck with me," Fang said, putting his hands behind his head and grinning.

On the outside, I looked pissed. On the inside, I was banging my head against a wall and screaming for help.

* * *

20 minutes into the hike I decided I needed to use the bathroom.

"Fang, I need to use the bathroom. Know where it is?" I asked him, seeing he had a map and a GPS in his hands.

"Aww Maxie, don't use that old excuse to try and get away from me. Lets just keep walking.." Fang said, slinging his arm around my shoulder in a "drunk man" kind of way.

"Fang! I really need to go!" I yelled, shrugging his arm off of me.

"Fine fine. Bathroom is a little short way up. Gotta warn you though, I've heard horror stories about that old thing," Fang told me, winking.

"Whatever. Lets just get there quick."

* * *

We soon arrived at the old wooden and rotting shack that they called a bathroom. I could smell the stench from yards away.

"Having second thoughts yet?" Fang asked.

"No, it's just smelly. Wait here, I'll be back," I huffed, walking towards it.

As I approached the wooden shack, I noticed that it stood on stilts. Right under it was a pipe that led straight into the ground. A leaky pipe. A pipe that was leaking all the disgusting waste right into the open air. I gagged.

Hesitating, I pushed the door slightly open. It creaked as it turned on its hinges. There was absolutely no light inside. I'd have to go pee in the dark.

I didn't even bother sitting on the toilet. I held myself up. When I was finished, I looked at the roll of toilet paper. It had bugs crawling all over it. I decided to pass on wiping myself. Touching that thing looked way more harmful than cleaning myself.

I pulled my pants up, and started to walk out. All of a sudden, the floor gave under me. The wooden boards cracked and I fell straight down. Right into the soggy, disgusting, unsanitary ground.

Ew.

I tried to pull myself back out, but the broken boards were pointy and prevented me from getting out. I could feel myself getting more and more soaked by the wet ground under me. I decided to resort to my last option.

"FANG!" I yelled. I heard him running over to me. He opened the door and saw the mess I was in.

"Now Ride, how on earth did you manage to do that? You know, instead of making a hole in the floor, you could have just used the toilet. A much less destructive way."

"Just get me out!" I said, extremely frustrated.

"Alright alright, hold on," Fang said. He bent over and started pulling the boards up towards him, making the hole even larger. After a few minutes of breaking the floor, the hole was finally big enough for me to climb out safely.

"Thanks," I simply said, looking down at my now ruined pants. Only one thing to do. I took a Swiss Army knife out of my bag. I started cutting my jeans off. At the end, they were now a mid-thigh length, but at least I wouldn't have to walk around with human poop covering my legs. Fang just watched.

"Come on, lets go. We are late," I told Fang, walking ahead of him. I continued walking on the trail.

* * *

**Fang POV**

I just watched as Max severed her jeans by more than 3 quarters. When she finished, she just walked ahead of me and back onto the trail.

"Come on, lets go. We are late," she told me.

I walked behind her. I watched as the now shorts hugged her legs. Her long, tan, curvy legs.

Wait, what?! Forget I ever said that.

I didn't say anything as we continued walking. Max was in the lead, holding the map. Every few minutes she would stop to check that we were on the right track, and then continue. I was wordless the whole way.

* * *

**Max POV**

Finally Fang and I made it to the overhang where the rest of our class was waiting. Nudge looked at me and screamed.

"MAX! What the hell happened to your beautiful jeans?! Those cost $40!"

Iggy came over and felt the now shorts. He felt their jaggedness.

"Woah Max, what happened?" Iggy asked.

"Maxie over here fell into a hole to use the bathroom and couldn't get out. She needed my help, didn't you Maxie?" Fang grinned.

"Nooo. I went into this dirty old bathroom shack and the wooden floor collapsed under me. I fell into dirty soggy sewage mud and got most of my pants wet. I cut them off because I didn't want to walk around wearing human poop."

Nudge's face looked disgusted by my story. As did Iggy's. Fang just grinned.

"Ewwww!" Nudge shrieked. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on guys, lets complete the worksheet," I said.

After we finished the work that our teacher had given us, Nudge, Iggy, Fang, and I sat all on the overhand, swinging our legs and looking at the giant scenic view ahead of us.

"Woah, guys! Look at the tiny town all the way out there!" I gasped, gazing at the teeny tiny town way out past the mountains. All three, Iggy, Fang, and Nudge, looked at me with this speechless look. Then as if on command, all three squinted their eyes towards the town. They said nothing.

"What? Can't you see it?" I asked. This whole speechless amazement thing was really starting to creep me out.


End file.
